Keep Calm And Write On

Hello there, world. You have been sadly abandoned as of late. But I decided to grace you with my words long enough to bring you this . For this exercise, I chose Charity and David, two of my main characters from Underground, which is mid-gigantic overhaul as we speak. So here you are! Enjoy! The bell on the café door rang as they stepped inside. The lady behind the counter looked on with curiosity at their motley crew, but didn’t ask any questions, only gave them a menu and told them to take as much time as they needed. David skimmed the menu, and tried not to wince. “Not enough for us to eat, too?” Charity said, softly. “No.” David was under the weight of that old feeling again, of being one hundred instead of eighteen. “But coffee is really cheap. That should keep us going. You want one?” Charity wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like coffee. It’s so bitter.” David shrugged. “At least it’s something in your stomach. And it’s all we can afford.” Charity nodded reluc

Okay, this is going to be a controversial post, so let's get on with it. I'm not going to waste your time trying to be witty or sugar coat anything, so I'm just going to come right out and say it; My generation disappoints me. And because they disappoint me, I'm seeking to address the issue with a letter. Because addressing problems happens to be something my parents taught me. Because I need to voice my opinions. If they stay any longer in my head, taking up space, I will scream, and no one wants that. Dear Generation Y, I overheard a conversation between a few of you a couple of months ago, which gave me pause. I forget the particulars, but the gist was that you were upset at your parents about something. The reason you were upset was petty at best, and your argument was utterly unfounded, but I didn't say this, after all, I'm just an eavesdropper. You continued to talk on and my mind wandered, thinking about the Ugg boots on your feet, the skinny jean

This morning, I woke up without an alarm, without classes looming or jobs beckoning. I don't have anywhere to be, anything to do, or any appointments or anything. It's both freeing and frightening. Every morning, I look ahead to day full of possibilities. I can do anything, I can be anybody I want to be. This is the good side of being self-employed as an author. The pay is less than perfect, but the benefits are endless. I can explore my imagination and travel to the very ends of my creativity. Today, I can be a musician in a band. I could be someone on the hunt for a secret treasure. I could be anyone I want to be. This is me. This is crazy, this is wacky. This is me! I get to listen to music all day while creating worlds for people to read. I track sales and promote myself on facebook. All in all, my author-life is crazy busy in a quiet way. I'm always home and never there at the same time. Physically, I'm here, but my mind is off in any number of diff

So when Miley Cyrus shocked the world a few days ago, there was a kerfuffle about her actions. Rightly so.  The internet exploded with outrage. Because the pen is mightier than the sword, and all that. And blogging about your outrage using expletives instead of reason is the way to accomplish change. Obviously. It's disturbing enough that this happened. On national TV, no less. But we have called only more attention to it by spreading our opinions through the blogosphere. Oh well. It's been a slow week. It's not like we have a potential war to think about, or anything. It's been so peaceful the past oh, five years that we have to invent things like this to be enraged about. Welcome to America. I, like so many other innocent blog surfers got sucked into THE GREAT MILEY DEBATE with great reluctance. In fact, I didn't even know about it until I read this post by an ordinary mom. This same post sparked a letter written by blogger Matt Walsh to

Anyone who knows me knows that I have some pretty solid opinions on many different things. I also happen to have a fear of being ostracized for them, and thusly I reign in my thoughts and restrain them, because I might offend someone. And we can't have that. Heaven forbid someone might be offended. But I have decided enough is enough. We live in a dark world, and as a Christian, I am called to be the light. What exactly is stopping me from doing that? I'm not sure. I've already gone against the societal grain in many ways, I was home-schooled all my life, I didn't date in high-school, and I just recently released my second book. (Which happens to be a look into the possibilities for the future of America-dystopian, disturbing-written to be thought-provoking.) Clearly, I am a follower. This ends now. I will no longer say the "right" things. I will say the Write things, I will write the things that are RIGHT for me to say because *they* are RIGHT. This

"Where do you go to school?" I have been asked that question all my life. And the answer always gave people pause. "I'm home-schooled." Now that I've graduated, the question is the same, and the answer is more shocking. "I'm taking a semester off." I agonized for weeks and weeks, wondering if I was doing the right thing. Would it really be worth it to lose a semester of staring at textbooks for much of the day? What if what I planned to do instead (finish my second novel) didn't pan out, or i failed miserably, and I wished I hadn't given it a try? Well, let me tell you something. This week, almost all of my friends posted pictures of themselves on their first day back to school. My first thought was, of course: "Is it that time already?" My second thought was: "That should be me." And yet...I didn't really think so. It was merely my way of wondering if I was doing the right thing by going agains

When my dear friend Meghan started the blog, Every Good Word, I knew the blogosphere was in for some fun...and I was right! Here's my version of her wonderful link up idea. 1.         What was your first-ever piece of writing?  My first ever published piece of writing was an article on Real Teen Faith somewhere around three years ago. {yikes!} 2.         How old were you when you first began writing?  I've been 'writing' since I was small, but I've been producing  readable  words since my freshman year or high school, when I began my blog to share my thoughts with an unsuspecting world. 3.         Name two writing goals. One short term & one long term.   Hmm. Those tricky things called goals. Well, I'd like to finish Arising, the second book in the Underground Trilogy, by November, and in the long term, I want my writing to inspire people's imagination, maybe spark a story idea of their own. I want to be an impactful writer. 4.          

I've heard it said that if you're not moving forwards, you are moving backwards. And it must be true. it's like on a treadmill. You have to keep moving just to maintain where you are. Hence my decision to blog daily. Yes, daily. I was waiting till my life became that picture-perfect idealized version of life that everyone else always has and we never seem to maintain. But that's just not going to happen. Yeah, okay. This blog is a major work in progress. But that's okay. Because so am I. Oh, how I've missed throwing the words from my brain onto a nice, clean document and sharing my brilliance with the online world. But I have an acceptable excuse. I promise. Because this happened. http://www.amazon.com/The-Girl-And-Crutch-ebook/dp/B00D8LHS6C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374550560&sr=8-1&keywords=the+girl+and+her+crutch Yup. That's my name. MY name. on a book cover. MY book. I'm an author. My life will never be less crazy than it is right

I'm just going to say it. Growing up is Weird. Capital W. Finishing classes for my last year ever of high school is Weird. Trying to work out a way to get my last ever homeschool evaluation is Weird. Having a cold and not getting to say goodbye to all my youthgroup peeps is Weird. Thinking about leaving on Saturday. Weird. Packing for a two month trip. Weird. Being in the last steps of editing and publication for my first novella is weird. Already having titles and summaries of my next seven (eight...nine...ten?) novels is Weird. Leaving home for two months on nothing more than the feeling that this is what God has for me is Weird. Growing up is weird. Graduating is Weird. LIFE IS WEIRD. But God specializes in Weird. Living for God is.... It's Weird. It's cray. But it's GOOD.

I had such high hopes for today. I was going to finish putting my portfolio together, do two lessons of French, write 2 essays, write a chapter of my new novel, PUBLISH a different novel, and then fly to the moon in two minutes flat. Somewhere in there, i was going to become a model and look like this. And then come back and beat Superman at wrestling. But guess what? My brain is mush, my ears and sinuses are killing me, and I don't even think i could best my four year old cousin at wrestling right now. Allergies are inconvenient. So basically, I look more like this today Life is inconvenient. But when we see past the inconvenience and embrace our lives as they are, Our lives can be beautiful. No one expects you to be perfect, just optimistic.

   February is known far and wide as the month of love.    And Dental Health.    And President's Day.    But seriously, since when did we humans decide that we were the authorities on love? Since when did we decide that Jesus Christ dying on the cross to rectify our sins was less of a display of love than a glittery piece of pink paper?   Since when did we start believing that the message of John 3:16 is somehow less impactful? A children's verse. The one everyone knows.  It's overused.  And yet not used enough. Understood, yet confusing. "God so LOVED the world, that he GAVE his only begotten son, so that whoever believeth in him, shall NOT perish, but have everlasting life." (emphasis mine.)   God's love is about  GIVING,  SACRIFICE.  LOVE.  LIFE.  SALVATION.  EVERLASTING LIFE.   God sent his one and only son, Jesus Christ, to die a horrible death on the cross.   Painful.   Agonizing.   Messy.    LIFEGIVING.   The gift